By: Kerry Robinson, RD   Date: 1/22/10

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often mentioned in media articles pertaining to food safety and nutrition, especially if there is a regulatory implication. Have you ever wondered: What exactly does the FDA do? If so, you are in luck!  

Last week, the FDA launched the first phase of its three-phase Transparency Initiative, which it developed in response to President Obama’s Transparency and Open Government Initiative, as well as feedback from the public, who have expressed an interest in more open communications at the federal level.  The goal of the FDA Transparency Initiative is to provide basic information about what the FDA is and how it operates. 

The first phase of the Transparency Initiative was marked by the launch of FDA Basics, a Web-based resource that includes: 

• Questions and Answers about FDA and products it regulates.
• Web pages dedicated to each FDA Office (ex. Food, Drug, Office of Dietary Supplements, etc.) with information about the specific issues it addresses.
• Video conversations with FDA staff on the roles and responsibilities of the various Offices.
• Videos explaining the variety of activities at FDA.

Here’s what the remaining phases of the FDA Transparency Initiative have in store:  
 
• Phase II will make recommendations to FDA’s Commissioner about ways to make information about FDA activities “more transparent, useful, and understandable to the public, in a manner compatible with the agency’s goal of protecting confidential information, as appropriate.” 
• Phase III will make recommendations to the Commissioner about the agency’s “transparency to regulated industries.”

To make the FDA Basics Web resource come alive, FDA will be hosting monthly online sessions with FDA senior officials on specific topics, like the food inspection process.  These online sessions will begin in February 2010, and will offer the public an opportunity to learn more about certain topics and pose questions directly to the officials.  Information about these online sessions will be posted on the Web site in advance.

Along with the FDA Basics Web site, FDA has started a Transparency Initiative blog, where members of FDA’s Transparency Task Force will blog about upcoming meetings and the Task Force’s current activities, and will also solicit public feedback and suggestions. 

If you are interested in learning more about the FDA Transparency Initiative, or would like to take part in the monthly online sessions, you can sign up for RSS feeds and email updates from the FDA Web site.

As someone who is familiar with the U.S. food regulatory system and the activities of the various agencies, the FDA Basics Web site even helped me to clarify and answer questions about FDA’s role in food regulation, and I’m looking forward to learning more as the Initiative progresses.  What do you think of the FDA Basics Web site?